IDEXX requests tax break extension from Westbrook

IDEXX Laboratories, a global pet health care technology firm that is Maine's largest publicly traded company, is asking the city of Westbrook to extend its tax increment financing deal for 10 years and add the value of a planned 135,000-square-foot expansion to the existing TIF district.

The Portland Press Herald reported the plan would result in the city returning nearly $1 million in property taxes per year. Westbrook approved a TIF district for the company's corporate headquarters in 2006, allowing IDEXX to recapture nearly $600,000 in property taxes over the past decade. With the expansion, a TIF extension would mean IDEXX could get back nearly $1 million in property taxes every year until 2037.

"As IDEXX develops a plan to expand here in Maine, this TIF amendment is an integral element in obtaining final internal approval of the expansion," IDEXX Chief Human Resources Officer Giovani Twigge told the Press Herald in an email.

"An incentive like this isn't necessarily based on need," Westbrook City Administrator Jerre Bryant told the paper. "Sometimes it's based on remaining competitive and keeping a gem like IDEXX Laboratories in your community."

In January, the Portland Press Herald reported that IDEXX plans to expand its current site, add parking, trails and stormwater management at 1 IDEXX Drive and 369 County Road. IDEXX (NASDAQ: IDXX), which has 7,500 employees worldwide, specializes in veterinary diagnostics, software and water microbiology testing.

The company had 2017 sales of $1.969 billion, it said in its latest financial report on Feb. 1.